Hardscaping is hard on the body. Lifting heavy pavers by hand and setting them while bending over can take a toll on the body. Now there are more tools on the market that make this process much easier and ergonomic for installers. These are great tools to invest in as a business owner whether you are in the field installing or not. If you are in the field these are great for you as an installer to keep you going every day year after year. If you are not in the field installing anymore, these are great for your employees to keep them happy which will help you retain your employees and possibly recruit other employees showing outsiders that you are willing to invest in the right tools for the job and keep your employees safe and happy.
Lifting Tools for Slabs and Pavers
There are several benefits to investing the money into tools that will lift slabs and pavers with minimal downside. The two main downsides are that you need to have space for them and to transport them to and from the job site. They also add to your tools that you need to maintain to ensure that they are in proper working order. This is especially the case for vacuum lifting tools that are listed below.
The benefits of having these available to you during your installation outweigh the two downsides described above.
First and foremost, it is going to be easier to lay pavers and especially slabs. Rather than having to bend over to pick up pavers or slabs and then having to bend over again to lay them or be on your knees while laying them, having a tool to lift these allows you to remain in an upright position throughout the laying process. It will also make it much easier to pick them up after having laid them. There are always times during the laying process or even afterwards where perhaps a stone cracks or chips and it needs to be replaced. But once they are laid, this becomes difficult to do without these tools. Or sometimes you need to lift a paver or slab to be able to add a little more bedding material underneath it. These tools allow you to lift with ease.
Building off of that last point, these tools are also going to keep your job site safer. Rather than bending over constantly, improperly lifting pavers or slabs, and the wear and tear that this puts on your body over the course of years, these tools will keep you upright through the entire laying process and keep that load on your arms rather than your knees and back. This keeps you and your employees lifting ergonomically correct.
Speaking of employees, having tools that show you are willing to invest to make their jobs easier and safer is a benefit to them and their willingness to remain with your business for the long term. It can also be an attractive proposal to potential employees as you can advertise the fact that you have equipment that makes their job easier. Attract good employees and retain them longer with the right tools on the jobsite.
These tools will also make you more efficient. We have done the calculation of laying by hand versus laying with a vacuum lifter. It does not translate to more efficiency in the short term when laying a small area. But if you spread that out over a full day of laying or a full week of laying and the toll that it takes on energy levels then that is where you will see the benefit of using this equipment. You will see that efficiency increase even more so with larger slabs.
Slab Lifting Tool
An entry level lifting tool for slabs is a two-person slab lifter. This works simply by placing the plates at the bottom on the edges of the slab and having a person on either end of that lifter to lift up which puts pressure on either side of the slab. It is a simple tool and the least expensive option on the list for handling slabs. The benefit to this is that there is no maintenance required on a tool like this as there are minimal moving parts or power source.
The downside being that it will only lift so much and if there is any loss of upwards pressure on the tool during the moving of that slab it could slip off of the lower plates and fall potentially breaking the slab or landing on the feet of the operators. It also requires a larger gap between slabs to be able to allow those plates to fit right next to the slab you are laying next to. If your slabs have tight joints, it may not accurately place that slab right next to the laid slab and would require you to lift and move it into it rather than hitting it over as that would pinch the bedding material between the joints and you may not get a tight fit.
The benefit to the linked product above is that the plates have a small extension that allows you to place on the surface of the laid slab and when the pressure is released by the operator the slab will fall into place tight against the already laid slab and into the bedding layer.
Also consider the smaller paver lifter for smaller pavers / slabs. Just consider the size of the pavers and the minimum size that this paver lifter is able to condense to. The same benefits and downsides to the slab lifter applies to this paver lifter.
Vacuum Slab Lifter
Removing the inaccuracies of laying slabs with a tool that was previously mentioned along with being safer for operators is a vacuum slab lifter. These work by plugging into a power source, turning on the vacuum, and attaching the tool to the surface of a paver or slab. The vacuum then creates a seal on top of the paver or slab and allows you to carry the product with a two-person handle for larger slabs. These are great products to use especially for laying slabs.
You can opt for a backpack paver lifter that is worn just like a backpack, plugs into a power source, and has a on and off switch on the backpack. After turning the vacuum on, the T-handle then is placed on the surface of the paver and the suction starts. You can carry it to where it will be placed and accurately place it without any pieces on the side of the paver that will get in the way of placing it. On the T-handle is a lever that will release the suction and the paver will be placed. These also have a slab lifter handle that is a two-person operation available.
Alternatively, you can use this battery-powered vacuum lifter for slabs or pavers. It comes with an integrated vacuum unit in the T-handle. It will be heavier to carry, but reduces the need for a backpack. You can also use it on equipment to place larger products as long as the vacuum is rated for the carrying weight.
Vacuum Paver Lifter
If you have smaller pavers that require a smaller pad to the vacuum lifter, then this vacuum paver lifter is best suited for you. It is simply a T-handle that allows you to hook up a standard air compressor to it. It works the same way with a lever on the T-handle that will release the seal once you are ready to place the paver. This unit comes with the smallest pads you can find with a few different sizing options included. It is important to know that the smaller the pad, the less weight you can carry with the unit.